DCR honors Saugus with Tree City USA Award

Saturday

Jul 12, 2014 at 8:00 AM

The Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Jack Murray presented the 2014 Tree City USA Awards to 81 Massachusetts communities, including Saugus, and the Tree Line USA award to National Grid, a longtime supporter of DCRís Urban Forestry program."These cities and towns across the Commonwealth have devoted many resources to planting and caring for their trees," said Murray. "It is important to continue this work and honor arborists statewide and DCR is proud to honor these efforts."Saugus received a Benchmark Award for being a Tree City USA community for 15 years.The awards honor communities committed to urban forestry. To receive designation as an official Tree City, municipalities must meet four criteria: establish a department devoted to tree care, spend at least $2 per capita per year on urban forestry, enforce laws protecting public trees and host an Arbor Day celebration.Massachusetts has the largest number of participating Tree City USA communities in New England and has participated in the Tree City USA program for the past 30 years. The program is offered by the Arbor Day Foundation, but it is administered in each state by designated environmental agencies. The program recognizes communities that meet baseline requirements for urban and community forestry programs.